<img src="https://www.rawstory.com/media-library/donald-trump-vladimir-putin-in-helsinki-photo-via-reuters.jpg?id=65171841&width=1245&height=700&coordinates=26%2C0%2C27%2C0"/><br/><br/><p>President <a href="https://www.rawstory.com/trump-doral-2678074104/" target="_blank">Donald Trump's</a> deal to buy Russian diesel fuel ahead of the midterms is more bluster than it is substantive, according to one expert. </p><p>Last week, Trump announced that the U.S. would buy more than <a href="https://www.rawstory.com/trump-putin-2678070879/" target="_blank">300,000 tons of diesel</a> this month as an attempt to lower gas prices ahead of the midterm elections. The move was announced at a time when the national average price for a gallon of diesel fuel was above $6.20, according to figures from AAA. The deal has also sparked significant pushback from Republican lawmakers in Congress. </p><p>Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said on CNN that the deal, while lucrative for <a href="https://www.rawstory.com/trump-putin-2678070879/" target="_blank">Russia</a>, likely won't have the significant and sustained impact on U.S. fuel prices that Trump hopes. </p><p>"<span style="background-color: initial;">I'm very skeptical that</span> <span style="background-color: initial;">Russia simply has this amount of</span> <span style="background-color: initial;">diesel sitting by," De Haan said, noting that Ukraine has been attacking Russia's oil infrastructure since the beginning of the war in 2022. "W</span><span style="background-color: initial;">e've seen</span> <span style="background-color: initial;">long, long lines for diesel in</span> R<span style="background-color: initial;">ussia. So I think that's</span> <span style="background-color: initial;">problematic, whether the supply</span> <span style="background-color: initial;">exists." </span></p><p><span style="background-color: initial;">Gas prices have become a focal point of the second Trump administration. During the 2024 campaign, Trump promised to lower gas prices as part of his efforts to reduce the overall cost of living. However, stubborn inflation combined with Trump's decision to attack Iran has caused fuel prices to spike. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: initial;">De Haan noted that the amount of oil Trump is buying, while nominally large, is a drop in the bucket compared to the needed intervention to stem the rising tide of gas prices. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: initial;">"T</span><span style="background-color: initial;">he</span> <span style="background-color: initial;">amount of diesel that we are</span> <span style="background-color: initial;">said to be importing from Russia</span> <span style="background-color: initial;">over time is less than a week's</span> <span style="background-color: initial;">supply," he said. "This initial 300,000</span> <span style="background-color: initial;">tons is only about a day and a</span> <span style="background-color: initial;">half of what we are producing as</span> <span style="background-color: initial;">a nation on a daily basis. So</span> <span style="background-color: initial;">there's just a lot of concern.</span> <span style="background-color: initial;">Ultimately, this is not going to</span> <span style="background-color: initial;">move the needle much. Again,</span> <span style="background-color: initial;">only a day and a half of supply. </span><span style="background-color: initial;">This is not something that's</span> <span style="background-color: initial;">going to have a material impact.</span> <span style="background-color: initial;">It may have a psychological</span> <span style="background-color: initial;">impact until the market unpacks</span> <span style="background-color: initial;">whether or not this diesel is</span> <span style="background-color: initial;">actually coming from </span><span style="background-color: initial;">Russia."</span></p><div class="rm-embed embed-media"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qd0s8LYgaZg?si=0Zqk4eahYkx3mugP" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></div> via Raw Story https://ift.tt/AyK5uwL
